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Two film critics killed in Manila

Tioseco, Bohinc were champions of Southeast Asian cinema

HONG KONG -- Two film journalists were slain in their home near Manila on Tuesday night.

Local reports say that Filipino-Canadian critic Alexis Tioseco and his partner Nika Bohinc, a Slovenian freelance writer, were shot dead by one of three gunmen who burst into their home in Quezon City, Manila, after the door was opened by a maid. After taking valuables and a laptop computer, the assailants made a getaway in the couple's car.

Tioseco was founder of Criticine.com, a Web site critiquing Southeast Asian cinema, and was a regular contributor to publications including the Philippine Star, Screen International, Senses of Cinema and Osian's Cinema. Bohinc, who lived between Slovenia and Manila, was editor in chief of Ekran film magazine.

"(Alexis) is a soft-spoken, talented and very nice man. A good friend and colleague to many Indonesian and Southeast Asian Filmmakers. He will be greatly missed," said Shanty Harmayn Hofman, a Jakarta-based producer and festival programmer.

"Philippine cinema has lost its most passionate champion, and I have lost two friends. Words cannot express the anger I feel at the injustice of it all," said Raymond Phathanavirangoon, a programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival. Phathanavirangoon reported that the Toronto screenings of Filipino director Raya Martin's "Independencia" will be dedicated to the memory of the pair.